Hidden down a back lane in Darlington is one of the gems of railway history – the oldest railway bridge in the world to remain in continuous use. Co-designed (not without some friction) by George Stephenson and the County Bridge Surveyor Ignatius Bonomi, its foundation stone was laid in July 1824. It appears in many of the drawings and paintings of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, and the Company was clearly very proud of it because it featured on its share certificates.  More recently, it appeared on the back of the old £5 note – unfortunately, back to front! When you next go to the Head of Steam Museum in Darlington, it is only a short walk away and well worth a visit.
As part of the preparations for the bicentenary in 2025, Darlington Borough Council are completely regenerating the area around the bridge (which was in a terrible state) and developing it as part of a cycleway – although not yet finished, the result will look fabulous. As part of this, they plan to erect a feature gateway to the cycleway entrance. You can view the application online by entering the application reference 17/00344/FUL at: bit.ly/SDRGE RESPONDING TO THE PROPOSAL The Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway welcome the development, but they are asking for two small changes to the gateway as proposed:

• First – so as to keep a coherent approach along the entire length of the line for the 2025 bicentenary – they want the text “S&DR1825” using a Times New Roman or Baskerville Old font to be added somewhere on the gateway.

• Second, they want the S&DR colours of vermillion or yellow for the gateway, and that the sign might reflect the requirement in the 1823 Act of Parliament for ‘large White Capital Letters and Figures on a Black Ground’.

YOU CAN HELP by submitting a comment (quoting the reference number) to the Darlington Planners by: E-mailing: planning. enquiries@darlington.gov. uk or writing to Planning Services, Town Hall, Darlington, DL1 5QT. Of course you can say whatever you want, but please support the application, and also the Friends’ suggestions as to font and colour. You MUST get your comments to DBC by Monday 12th June.